cognitive Archives - usatoday24

“Any planet that has developed intelligence should have noosignatures, a physical history of cognitive activity”

July 21, 2026 by usatoday24

¿We are looking for evil extraterrestrial life Or are we alone in the Universe? Some experts opt for the former. They believe that it would be quite egocentric to think that we are the only ones who inhabit the immensity of the cosmos. The problem is that we are busy searching for alien intelligence, but perhaps we are not smart enough to find it. Or, toning things down a bit, we haven’t found the best strategies. Normally we look for biosignatures or technosignatures. That is, biological traces or radio signals from some extraterrestrial technology. Now, astrobiologist Julia De Marines, from the University of California, Berkeley, has devised a new term that focuses right in the middle: noosignatures. Smart, but not that advanced. If an extraterrestrial had landed its radio telescopes on Earth during the stone age I wouldn’t have found anything. I would have concluded that, in that direction, there are no planets with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The failure would have been in thinking that any planet with intelligent life must be at the same point of technological development. Seen this way, it is a pretty big mistake. But the reality is that we are doing just that. For this reason, De Marines believes that technofirms are not the best options. As to biosignaturesdo not always point to biological processes. The history of space exploration is full of examples in which it cannot be ruled out that the biosignature has a geological origin. In fact, it is most likely. For this reason, this astrobiologist proposes that intermediate point in which life is not sought, but rather intelligent activity at an intermediate point before developing advanced technologies. Because it may not have been sought at the right time or, simply, that civilization may not have advanced that much. To be able to detect it correctly, the key is in Assembly Theory. Too many pieces to put together alone. Assembly Theory is based on the assembly index of an object. That is, the number of pieces that had to be joined to form it. Sometimes pieces can be assembled by natural processes. However, above a certain threshold, a complexity is denoted that can only have certain intelligent activity behind it. Stone age tools are a good example. No need to look for stone axes. Although we take prehistoric tools as an example, this cannot be sought by launching telescopes and sensors into space. However, there are activities that can be measured from the outside. For example, agriculture left a measurable trace of nitrogen in our atmosphere. Even food manufacturing, such as fermented products, can be detected in waste chemistry thousands of years later. It is not necessary to understand it. Something important about this method of searching for extraterrestrial life is that it is not necessary to understand noosignatures. Returning to examples from our own history, in Phys point out the case of the Indus Valley writing. At the moment, no one has been able to decipher it, but we know that it was not written alone. There was an intelligent mind behind it. In this case the same thing happens. We must look for traces that do not fit with the natural behavior of the planet, even if it is not understood how they could have arisen. The limitations. This method of searching for extraterrestrial life has a major limitation. And noosignatures are ephemeral. If they are not measured at the right time, they can disappear. Additionally, they can be quite complex to decipher. To all this we must add that the study published by De Marines is a preprint. This means that it has not yet undergone review by an independent research team. Therefore, we must take their approaches with a grain of salt. Anyway, the reality is that, since the beginnings of SETIthe search for intelligent extraterrestrial life is not bearing good fruit. Not even the search for life, in general. The twists in methodology can be interesting, so this one deserves, at the very least, the attention of other astrobiologists. Image | Brooke Denevan (Unsplash) In Xataka | What is the Fermi paradox and why the architect of the atomic bomb gave a twist to the search for extraterrestrial life

manual shifting has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function”

July 8, 2026 by usatoday24

A study from Tohoku University (Japan) has put figures to something that many motor fans have been defending for years out of pure passion. And although there are not exactly a few enthusiasts who claim that driving with a manual transmission is more fun, now they could also have science on their side, since according to the study, they also could be healthier for the brain. And the person who claims it, curiously, is the scientist behind one of Nintendo’s best-selling video game sagas. 20 years ago, I trained our brain. The study is led by Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University. His name will be familiar to anyone who has played any of the Nintendo titles in which he stars, since he was the scientific person behind the Brain Age saga and Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training, the “mental gymnastics” games that Nintendo published between 2003 and 2020. What it says about the manual transmission. The neuroscientist’s research analyzes the brain activity of drivers behind the wheel of manual and automatic cars, and finds clear differences in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for memory, decision making and attention. According to collect Japanese media Best Car Web, Kawashima explains that when driving a manual “you have to judge and then choose the optimal gear according to the situation, and this places a greater burden on the cognitive functions of the brain than driving a passive automatic.” In the end, we must keep in mind that choosing the right gear, pressing the clutch, moving the lever and dosing the accelerator simultaneously forces the brain and body to constantly coordinate, something that anyone who has stalled a car while learning to drive can confirm. Between the lines. That small repeated effort, according to the professor, has benefits that go beyond the simple pleasure of driving. Kawashima holds that doing so regularly has “a significant effect on maintaining mental health and cognitive function.” So changing gears daily could act as a kind of low-level brain training, the kind that the brain stops receiving when the car does all the work for us. Any habit capable of keeping the brain active adds up. And in societies with increasingly aging populations, like the japanesehaving this stimulus is important, since cognitive deterioration and dementia are increasingly accentuated public health problems. And yet. The paradox is that, while science has reasons to defend it, the manual transmission begins to disappear from the market at full speed. In Japan and the United States it barely represents between 1% and 2% of new cars sold, according to the data collected in the study itself. The emergence of hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as the comfort offered by this type of transmission, has meant that the manual transmission is beginning to be seen less and less. Photography is still different in Europe, although we are also heading towards this future. In Spain, according to Engine1we maintain a rate of manual cars of around 41% of sales, only surpassed by Italy, with 48%. So you could say that in Spain we continue to maintain a good level of stimulation for our brain while driving. Cover image | Nils Keesmekers In Xataka | Anti-electrics lose an argument about car batteries: a study confirms that they are more durable than previously believed

“Meditation is related to increased performance on cognitive tasks”

June 13, 2026 by usatoday24

Breathing is such an instinctive act that we rarely pay attention to it, since, although we do it about 20,000 times a day, we are in a strict physiological “autopilot” of which we are almost unaware. However, in recent years, neuroscience has begun to unravel the mechanisms behind a practice that has been with us for millennia, such as conscious breathing. to relax There are many techniques that are advertised on social networks, such as mindfulness or breathing control. But here are several questions we can ask ourselves: do these techniques really work? And why do they work? This is where science comes in, which has managed to map how the simple act of altering our breathing rhythm is capable of modulating attention, memory and the activity of our brain networks. The neurological basis of this phenomenon is strongly supported by the work of researchers such as Jack L. Feldman, who has dedicated his career to studying respiratory control and its deep link with emotions and cognition. But now we go one step further to understand that breathing control techniques are a way of communicating with the nervous system. The panic button. To understand why paying attention to how air enters and leaves our lungs has such a massive impact, you have to look at the brain stem. Here is a study published in Science in 2017 identified a small but critical group of neurons in the pre-Bötzinger complexthe true “pacemaker” of our respiratory rhythm. With just 175 neuronstheir projections made connections with the areas of the brain responsible for attention, alertness and panic. This is why slow, controlled breathing drastically reduces the activation of this center, and therefore acts as a way to put a biological brake on the brain’s alarm signals. Beyond relaxation. Although it is what they sell us most on a daily basis, the reality is that when we move to conscious breathing, focused attention is also improved, for example. This is what neuroimaging studies show that the brain ‘lights up’ in very specific areas when it is in a state of mindfulness. Specifically, areas related to emotional management, body awareness and focused moment-to-moment attention are activated. In fact, a study published in Scientific Reports in 2018 demonstrated that eight weeks of meditation based on attention to breathing not only improves performance in visual selective attention and working memory, but also optimizes the efficiency of brain networks. The new thing we know. The latest data is consolidating the idea that breathing is the main modulator between our body and our mind. Different research points to how interneuronal connections translate into tangible improvements in emotional control. For example, a work published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience concludes that slow breathing significantly reduces anxiety, improving medial frontal alpha asymmetry in electroencephalograms, which is a known biomarker of control over our emotions. It’s not magic. This is a very important nuance that we have to make here, since although studies agree that these mindfulness techniques are formidable for reducing chronic stress, anxiety and depression, they are not a miracle. What science here is not that we are facing a magical transformation, but rather a neurobiological training. Learning to breathe consciously is, in essence, learning to use a physical interface that evolution has given us to optimize the efficiency of our neural networks, improve our emotional regulation and maintain focus in an increasingly dispersed world. Images | Benjamin Child In Xataka | The best 18 meditation, relaxation and mindfulness applications to have better mental health

Science suggests that it is a great shield against cognitive deterioration

February 28, 2026 by usatoday24

In our society, the fact that grandparents end up taking care of their grandchildren throughout the day or having to pick them up from school It is something quite normalboosted mainly by the problems of conciliation familiar. This is something that has been the subject of much controversy because, when you reach a certain age, carrying the burden of having a child under your responsibility can take its toll. But now science indicates that it has important benefits. New tests. A study published this year in the magazine Psychology and Aging points out that being involved in caring for grandchildren provides a benefit to cognitive health, although it has different important nuances related to sex and time dedicated. The science behind. This study focused on data from English Longitudinal Study of Aging where More than 1,700 grandparents over 50 years of age have been analyzed. In this case, to ensure maximum precision in the results, the researchers used a matching method, comparing grandparent caregivers with those who did not care for their grandchildren, but who did share demographic and health characteristics. What did they see? With this sample on the table, what was seen is that both grandmothers and grandfathers who are caregivers showed higher levels of verbal fluency compared to the control group. Furthermore, both genders had better episodic memory compared to matched controls. In this way, it can be concluded that grandparents who take care of their grandchildren tend to show better cognitive functioning than those who do not. Quality versus quantity. One of the most revealing conclusions of the study debunks a common myth: the amount of time spent is not the determining factor. In this way, spending more or fewer hours caring for one’s grandson or granddaughter does not predict the effect it may have on brain cognition. But what really affects brain health in this case is the diversity of tasks. What was seen is that grandparents who participated in a greater variety of activities experienced better cognitive outcomes. These activities include, for example, preparing food for your grandchildren, spending time playing with them, helping them with their homework, or picking them up from daycare or school. Gender difference. Although both grandfather and grandmother showed higher initial cognitive levels when caring for their grandchildren, with the passage of time it changed. In the case of both sexes, it was observed that both verbal fluency and episodic memory improved substantially over time. But the difference is precisely in the temporal decline, causing grandmothers who have cared for their grandchildren to have a slower cognitive loss over time than caring grandparents, who maintain the same speed of loss. Because? The researchers here suggest that these differences may be due to how they relate to different genders and how they collaborate on care tasks. In this case, grandmothers tend to become much more deeply involved in the physical and emotional care of children. If we turn to the grandparents, we find that they are involved in leisure activities and often carry out care tasks in the company of the grandmothers. This way, you are not as focused on care. The limit. Logically, Maintaining multiple productive roles, such as family caregiving, can promote a more active lifestyle that positively impacts people’s cognitive functions. However, research warns that adding care responsibilities to the usual activities of these grandparents can be stressful and leave our grandparents feeling overwhelmed and with little autonomy. Images | Vitaly Gariev In Xataka | Your grandmother is an evolutionary advantage: science already knows why they generate an indestructible bond with their grandchildren

The danger of using AI chatbots for everything is real: MIT has discovered the “cognitive debt”

September 26, 2025 by usatoday24

A MIT study He has shown that chatgpt and similar tools generate what they call “cognitive debt”: students who resort to them for total use end up writing better, but thinking worse. Why is it important. The study contradicts the belief that AI is like a calculator: a simple support that frees us for more complex reasoning. Actually, these tools can atrophy the brain connections that build critical thinking. The facts. 54 university students have spent months writing essays, divided into three groups: Grupo LLM, which used Chatgpt. Search motor group, which used Google. And group Solo-Cerebro, without external tools. The researchers measured their neuronal activity with electroencephalograms and the results have been overwhelming: those who used a neuronal connectivity systematically lower in all frequency bands. Compared to the group that only used its brain, there was a lower activation in key networks that connect parietal, temporal and frontal regions, fundamental for attention, memory and semantic processing. In Xataka 81% of interviewers suspected the traps with AI in interviews: 31% have confirmed it without a doubt and they have put a brake The contrast. The essays generated with AI received better notes, both from teachers and evaluating algorithms. But their authors remembered worse what they had written minutes before and felt a minor authorship about their texts. When they forced the usual users to write without help, their brain patterns showed that dependence on external support. They had lost ability to reactivate the necessary neural networks to write independently. How to walk without support after years doing it with crutches. Yes, but. The students who learned to write without ia and then used it for the first time maintained their engagement neuronal They even showed better memory and reactivation of broad brain areas. The key difference: You need to know how to think before you can think with machines. In perspective. This pattern replicates what we see in other professions: The subway driver who feels alienated because the train drives alone. Translators turned into machine editors. 3D creatives that only retouch what the AI generates. {“Videid”: “X9R6K72”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “Chatgpt Pulse”, “Tag”: “Technology”, “Duration”: “67”} The threat. The study also analyzed university students who already had developed writing skills. The effects could be more severe in adolescents who are still building these cognitive abilities. As a Dartmouth teacher said: we run the risk of creating “an educated generation with AI shortcuts” that lacks independent thinking skills. And now what. The sequence matters more than technology. First, you learn to think. Then, you learn to think with machines. The brain needs to build those Neuronal highways before being able to delegate selectively in AI. The study concludes that educational interventions should “combine the assistance of AI tools with learning phases without tools” to optimize both immediate skill and long -term neuronal development. Outstanding image | Xataka In Xataka |What happens if the software doesn’t matter when you are the largest company in the software world (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news The danger of using AI chatbots for everything is real: MIT has discovered the “cognitive debt” It was originally posted in Xataka by Javier Lacort .

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